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Despite a wealth of political bluster that Wall Street has been
reformed, we awake this morning to see that very little has
really changed on this front. Financial regulatory
reform? The simple fact is when it comes to Wall Street
regulation, investors, consumers, and the American public at
large are being fed the same helping of dog$hit.

We need look no further than a meeting held just yesterday of
industry executives and securities regulators to see exactly
this.

Wall Street firms and exchanges should better police each other
to prevent and reduce the cost of technology gaffes, industry
executives and researchers told securities regulators Tuesday.

Five years of excruciating economic anxiety. Trillions of dollars
of taxpayer funded bailouts. Countless numbers of financial
regulatory disasters and this is what we are being fed. The same
dog$hit collectively delivered as financial self-regulation.
Where is a real spokesman for the American public to look these
Wall Street firms and exchanges in the eye and say, “I don’t
think so, gentlemen.”

We see further evidence of this self-regulatory dog$hit in
reports that investigations of
insider trading cases are escalating. The FT highlights
this point this morning in writing,

FBI agents are also trying to work more closely with market
regulators who often spot irregular trading through surveillance.
Mr Barnacle said the FBI was seeking information from the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self-policing body . .
.

Do the Feds really have confidence in engaging the meter maids at
FINRA? Just two months ago I highlighted the fact that the
FINRA meter maids wrote a lot
of tickets but few of very real substance.

What is the simple conclusion?

Self-regulation DOES NOT work on Wall Street. To think that an
industry fixated on maximizing revenues will properly police
itself is ridiculous. Until that reality is addressed,
acknowledged, and changed, our nation as a whole will continue to
suffer from the accompanying incestuous crony capitalism that
brought us to this point in the first place.

Be very careful that you do not step in the piles of poop as you
navigate accordingly.

I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity
referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own.
I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that
investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.